Pre-Columbian, Peru, Chavin, Tembladera Phase, ca. 1200 to 1000 BCE. A hand-built pottery vessel with a flat base, a spherical, apple-shaped body, a rounded shoulder, and a squat spout. A bridge handle arches between the spout and an upside-down acrobat figure, hands splayed out beneath their body to aid in their balance, and with incised striations delineating the arms and legs from the body. Incised across the vessel's body are two abstract zoomorphic faces - each with a wide mouth and a huge, rectangular eye - all accentuated with rubbed cinnabar pigment. Size: 6.4" L x 6.625" W x 6.8" H (16.3 cm x 16.8 cm x 17.3 cm)

The Chavin civilization is generally regarded as the Andean mother civilization - oftentimes compared to the Olmec of Mexico. Both the Chavin and the Olmec cultures created the earliest Pre-Columbian visual culture that continued to flourish until European contact in the 16th century. Using molds and modeling the forms by hand, the Chavin made numerous vessels like this example. Scholars have suggested that the indigenous used them to store fermented corn beer or "chicha."

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, 1995 to 2010; ex-private Hans Jurgen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from 1950 to 1960s

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#108959

Professionally repaired and restored, with nearly invisible restoration. Minor abrasions and nicks, with fading to brown and red pigment, and minor softening to some incised decorations. Great preservation to incised decorations and acrobat.